Aug 21, 2008

Want to promote your business to a larger audience? Consider appearing on a radio show. Radio shows are fun, interactive, and an enjoyable way for the show listeners to engage with you and your topic.

My friend recently asked me how to prepare to be a guest on a radio show. It can be nerve-wracking, to say the least.

Here's my step-by-step guide on how to be more focused and highly successful when you appear on a radio show. When you follow my recommended these steps, you'll be professional guest and a welcome addition for any profession radio guest spot you might desire.

How To Guest On A Radio Show

1. Show Agreement. Make sure you know what you want to get out of the show, and what you can provide to the radio program audience. Try to tailor your talk slightly towards the show audience, as this matters to the host tremendously. Some traditional radio shows charge you to appear. Make sure you understand what you're getting before you agree to pay for the show. Many Internet radio shows are free, but they want you to bring your audience to their audience. Make sure you can promise this AND make sure you deliver your audience to the show by promoting it properly, too. This is as important as doing a good job on the show, to the host.

2. Choose an ENGAGING TOPIC. You may have done that in advance, as many hosts want to know your topic PRIOR to letting you on the show. So, these two may be interchangeable. I always find a humorous topic is helpful. Also, a topic of "How-to" can be good. Or something controversial. Try all three at once and really wow your audience!

To come up with your topic, pull from your background and what you want to promote the most, right now. If the host wants your background or a specific topic MORE than what you want to promote, don't worry about that. As long as you can tailor your talk to their topic, you'll then get a couple of chances to steer the talk towards what you want to promote during the show anyway. You could talk about losing weight. Maintaining optimum health. Talk about partnering with winners. Talk about being great. Talk about Living Your Dreams and then practical ways to do this. There are a lot of things you could talk about, with your experience. Pick one that excites you and you know people care about.

Well, a radio talk can be extemporaneous, where you answer 8 - 10 questions - write the Q's then the A's, then talk naturally.

OR

You can plan your talk like you'd plan a speech, where you write your Main POINT first. Then three to five sub-points. Under each sub-point, you'll have a joke, a story, a statistic, an anecdote, etc., that backs up your sub-point. Stories are powerful. From each point there is a transition. If you write it well, you'll give your interviewer the transitions, so they look smooth and professional. You want to build in BREAKS to allow your interviewer to ask you questions. Most interviewers will ask you something (or a few things) off your sheet, out of personal interest. This will prove you know your stuff, too. Those are my favorite moments in radio interviews. The difference between a radio show talk speech and in-person talk is that the HOST will say your intro. So, write the intro for them. YOU will say the conclusion, so make sure that you get to that BEFORE the end of the show and in the way YOU WANT. Many guests let the host do this and miss their moment to summarize!

3. Show Description. Make sure to write the description of the show, and the headline, using GOOD COPY. COPY is the key to people dialing in and listening to your show! If you are unsure how to write good copy, study other talks and how they promote themselves. If you need further help, contact a copywriter. I can help, as I've written a lot of copy in the past, too. In the description, you might list three bullets of what show listeners might be struggling with - and the benefit of what they'll take away. For example:

Weight loss problem/benefit:Stop struggling with diets that never work.... find the one way to lose weight that truly works and will keep the weight off.

Success problem/benefit:Tired of going from job to job, trying to earn a buck...get a system that guarantees your will be successful and create the wealth and happiness you desire!

Building affiliates:Wondering which affiliate is best...learn how to choose an affiliate who will make you look better and put big bucks in your bank account.

Use good copy and your show will attract MORE guests!

4. Your BIO. Make sure to give the show host your 1-3 paragraph bio. Trust me, they won't use more than two large paragraphs, so don't give them anything more than that. Make sure your BIO relates to your topic and also highlights the great things you've done in your past. Drop key names, company names, or programs/books you've written, helped write or develop. For AspireNow, I've always said something like "Scott's programs at AspireNow.com help over 300,000 people from over 100 countries around the world." Find your numbers and multiply them and you might be surprised how many ways you can impress others! Your BIO must make you SHINE so don't be overly bashful or shy about your successes. Besides, the host is reading these things, not you.

5. Your Plug. The host wants to promote you and make you the star. Make it easy for them. Write two plug paragraphs with phone numbers, emails, URL etc. for the host to promote you and your business. Make it EASY for people to find and promote YOU and they WILL! Make each sentence a bullet. Use no more than 3 bullets for your plug.

6. Giveaway/Discount Freebie: Many guest speakers miss this opportunity, but the biggest reason many people will listen to a show is because you offer them a GIFT. It's like having a raffle at the end of a business meeting. After the raffle, people leave, but people WILL listen more when you offer a gift or giveaway. Pick something like a book, or discount on a training course, or if you've got the budget, something sexy like an iPod or FLIP Camera phone would certainly get me excited. Only do this for shows that have traffic of at least 40,000 people. Some hosts won't give you their traffic numbers, so choose how you gift wisely.

7. Pre-show Promotion: Prior to your appearance, make sure you promote your show 2 - 5 days prior to appearing on the show to your list via mail, email, social network updates, and so forth. Promote the show again electronically 1 hour prior to going on the air and you'll catch a good number of people in your network listening to the show. If you cannot do this, then at least let people know you're going on the air. The show host really CAN tell when you promote the show to your list and they really do CARE that you do so! They want to grow their audience as much as you want their exposure! Don't blow this step: it is the single most important thing you can do to grow your audience and secure future spots as a show guest on the same show.

8. Post-show promotion: After the show, if you have permission (I suggest you secure this in your agreement) to rebroadcast, you can convert your show to MP3 and then post it to a website, blog, email, newsletter, or as a thank you download for people who sign up for your list. It can be a valuable selling tool, too, so choose where you post it and how you post it wisely. If you need assistance with show placement, contact me. Don't blow this step, either. I've appreciated the traffic that continues to come to my radio shows from online posting of the show on other guest websites and newsletters. It DOES work, believe me. And, you'll be happy when someone hires you after listening to your radio show appearance, as has happened with several of my show guests!

9. Practice & Rehearse OUT LOUD: Make sure you practice your show out loud, and make sure you have time to cover your main points with the stories and everything you wish to share. Leave time for show commercials and the plugs, and then some. Make sure you SLOW your speech down and ENUNCIATE CLEARLY. Many people forget to do this. You want to speak to the lowest guest denominator, not the highest, so you will need to be slower and more clear than normal.